It was the worst three month stretch for bonds since 1980. The Bloomberg Barclays Aggregate bond index fell 6%. The index yields about 2.5%, meaning it lost over two years of expected income in a quarter. Add in high inflation, and bonds had a dismal start to the year.

At the heart of our process are the tools we use. Most are mutual funds. In discussions, we often gloss over this fact and cut straight to how the funds are allocated. Here, we will take a step back and review some mutual fund basics.

Today, a few clicks lets you buy stocks anywhere. With the world's stocks on every menu, investors' have collectively allocated capital according to the cartogram. Yet individually, investors greatly prefer domestic portfolios.

“Emerging markets” is an asset class of developing countries that share little in common geographically, economically, or in size. What does unite them is higher expected returns and higher risk than developed markets. 

Here are a couple of fantastic slides that highlight some favorite themes: diversification and the average investor's behavioral biases.